Today we drove from Bakersfield to Barstow.  It was only about 130 miles or so but the landscape did not fail to impress.  We started out by climbing about 4000 ft elevation.  The hills in this area were just amazing.

We went through the Tehachapi Pass.  You could see the many tunnels and railroad tracks from the highway.

Then we saw the hugest wind farm that we have seen so far.  There is something so graceful about these huge turbines.  We also went by the Edwards Air Force Base.

And then all of a sudden - we were in the desert

The East Kern is also known for its rich mining history, and we continue to make history as the price rises on these rare chemicals and precious metals that are supplied to the world by mines like, US Borax in Boron, Ca. and its vital supply of chemical borates since 1883 from the famous 20 mule team borax hauling wagons that traveled from Death Valley, California to the railhead in Mojave, Ca. for shipping. Decades later in 1925 one of the largest deposits ever found of the chemical Boron was discovered where it is still mined today at the U.S. Borax plant near the town we now know as Boron, ca.

This pictuter is the mine at Boron that I took from across the highway at the rest stop.  It was huge and you could tell it was a mining area just from the landscape around it which doesn't really show up in the picture

We are in a KOA in a small town called Yermo.  It is a nice campground and they have lots of cactus and desert type plants and trees all around.  The above picture is the desert behind the campground where we went for a walk. They have some really nice sites here - even for tenters.

We also went out for lunch to a restaurant called Peggy Sues.  We saw signs advertising this place for about 20 miles before the town so figured we would give it a try. It is a 50's style restaurant and it didn't disappoint either!

This is an actual camping site - there are even mattresses in it up off the ground.  Might be fun for kids.

 Seriously, I don't think I will eat for 2 days after this huge lunch and I even palmed part of it off on Don.  It was called the "mickey mouse"   Nothing mickey mouse about this lunch!

 This was the Marlin Brando.

 The place was just full of cool old stuff and you could spend hours reading and looking at all the pictures on the walls.  Fun place to go for sure!
Some army dude tried to horn in on the picture at right.  Also there was a whole table of real live CSI's in the restaurant when we were there.  Maybe they were planning their next show?

 Told our waitress we were going to make her famous  LOL

 Outside the restaurant is a cute little gift shop with all kinds memorabilia including Betty Boop, Elvis, Beatles, Lucy and Elvis.

Off to Vegas tomorrow!
One last thing I wanted to mention about California.  We noticed huge amounts of garbage along the roads.  Plastic bags stuck to every fence, cans and bottles and fast food garbage everywhere.  Despite their efforts with the adopt a highway program and $1000.00 fines for littering they have a serious problem.  It is sad to see such a beautiful area cluttered with garbage.  I HATE plastic bags and take out!  Sorry - a little rant there.

I also found an interesting article that explains why the increase of garbage in the area we were just visiting.

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x1608245336/Highway-trash-piling-up-following-loss-of-inmate-crews